Now that the world is digital, you need new ways of storing everything. Whether for backing up your computer, digitally recording your favorite TV show, or playing a DVD-ROM, the convenience and price of DVD-RAM make it your best bet.

DVD-RAM stands to be the next Zip, the next VHS, and the next CD-R, all in one convenient format. Not that DVD-RAM is new; it's just gotten better. Prior generations could store only 2.6GB of storage on each side of a disk, and they were incompatible with other formats, such as CD-RW. But the new specification, DVD-RAM Book 2.0, offers a host of advantages, including the ability to store 4.7GB of data per side.

The 4.7GB drives were first announced last year and are now available from such companies as Hitachi, Panasonic, and Toshiba. They embody the most practical, random-access storage available for backup and near-line storage to date. And DVD-RAM's cost-per-megabyte is rivaled only by serial-access streaming tape. In addition, the new DVD-RAM drives read most other formats, including CD-ROM, CD audio, CD-RW, and DVD-ROM.

Though DVD-RAM is backward-compatible with DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM disks are actually quite different, allowing them to be rewritable. The higher capacity of 4.7GB DVD-RAMs is achieved with a new layer, called a Contrast Enhancement Layer, in the disks. This layer increases the signal-to-noise ratio and lets the drive write smaller data marks yet retrieve information accurately.

The new specification also introduces the Burst Cutting Area. This small section of the disk is set aside for a unique disk key, which aids encryption and copy protection. (DVD-ROMs already have this area, but older DVD-RAM disks don't.) And because 4.7GB DVDs will be the cheapest and easiest way to store huge digital video files, such security is very important. (DVD Forum, www.dvdforum.org)